Polemonium caeruleum seed
LATIN NAME: Polemonium caeruleum
COMMON NAME: Jacob’s Ladder
The Jacob’s ladder sends up its sprays of the blue, bell-shaped flowers, and the crowded leaflets climb the stems like the rungs of the ladder. The upright, clump-forming, perennial plant carries the pinnate leaves of the many crowded leaflets, giving the ladder-like arrangement, and the loose sprays of the open, bell-shaped, blue or violet-blue flowers through the early summer, one of the fine, airy sights of the border, drawing the bees. The plant is a fine, historic presence of the old garden, and it is a plant of the open, sunny to lightly shaded, deep, moist, well-drained ground.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
The Jacob’s ladder is a curious subject of the plant science, and the ladder-like leaves keep showing up in the work on the upright perennials. The way the pinnate leaves of the many crowded leaflets climb the stems in the even rungs has been studied closely, and it keeps appearing in the studies of the upright perennials, the woodland-edge plants and the members of the phlox family. The crowded leaflets and the clump-forming habit have also made it a fine study plant, and the Jacob’s ladder is a regular subject of the work on the ladder leaves of the cool world.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
The Jacob’s ladder is a fine, airy plant of the border and the woodland edge. The loose sprays of the open, bell-shaped, blue or violet-blue flowers open through the early summer, one of the fine, airy sights of the border, drawing the bees, and the pinnate leaves of the many crowded leaflets give the curious, ladder-like rungs along the stems. It is one of the fine choices for the border, the woodland edge and the study collection, and it has been written up in the horticultural and the botanical papers for the ladder leaves and the airy ways. It is a fine, airy plant of the open, sunny to lightly shaded, deep, moist, well-drained garden.
Give the young plants the light shade and the moist soil, and the blue sprays will come in the second season.
To grow the Jacob’s ladder from seed, scatter the small, brown seeds across the surface of the moist tray, without covering them, keep the tray in a bright, open spot and water gently, then set the young plants out in the open ground. The seedlings come through within a few weeks and grow on steadily. With the sun or the light shade and the deep, moist, well-drained ground, the blue sprays will rise through the early summer.
Uses: Medicinal
Leaflets are assembled in ladder form. Showy bright blue flowers. Remedy for nervous complaints, headaches and palpitations of the heart.